New Tucson skate park to be built under Interstate 10

A new skate park to be built under Interstate 10 near downtown Tucson has been approved by the City Council.

Construction on the fully-funded park on West Cushing Street will start March 21, with an estimated opening in late 2025.

Caleb Gutierrez, the park’s founder, first brought up the idea nearly a decade ago at a 2016 council meeting.

“It’s been nine years of dedication and a labor of love,” Gutierrez said at the council’s Wednesday meeting.

Because of the pandemic and survey planning, the project slowed.

But now it is set to be completed in less than a year thanks to funding from Tohono O’odham, Pasqua Yaqui and Rio Nuevo grants, as well as Ward 1 and the mayor’s office.

The project will cost a total of $2.6 million, according to Romero.

After it opens, the skate park will incur an annual cost of $20,851 for maintenance and operation.

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“A bunch of kids and their parents walked in one night at a council meeting and said ‘we don’t have access to skate parks, and we deserve one’,” Mayor Regina Romero recalled of the first time the skate park idea was brought to the council.

The park will be Tucson’s first fully shaded skate park, something that skaters like Gutierrez have been advocating for due to the hot summer temperatures.

“I’m really excited for this because it’s really hot in this part of the country,” Gutierrez said.

Tucson Parks and Recreation conducted a study in 2022 with the Arizona Department of Transportation to find the best location for the park. The permits were issued in December 2024.

Arizona Department of Transportation and Rio Nuevo intergovernmental agreements were signed Wednesday, officially approving the project to break ground.

The skate park will take approximately six to eight months to complete and will include bathrooms, drinking fountains, landscaping and other amenities.

“We’re creating a vibrant, active hub downtown for skaters of all ages and skill levels,” Romero said.